


Beneath the Stars Above

by WotanAnubis



Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Mother of Vermin, Post Game, Pre-Relationship, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 18:59:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10542555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WotanAnubis/pseuds/WotanAnubis
Summary: In which Mae and Bea share a moment on the outskirts of town.





	

The stars shone in the empty night sky. Tiny pinpricks of cold light. Distant and uncaring. But kind of beautiful all the same.

For a while nothing moved in the sparse woodland below. Then Bea lit another cigarette and smoke lazy coiled up into the empty air. Mae had dragged her out here for some reason. She wouldn't explain why. Bea had gone along because, well, why not? It wasn't as if she had anything better to do.

Besides, hanging out with Mae after work made tomorrow seem like a little less of a burden. And that was always good.

"Nice night," said Mae.

"Too cold," said Bea.

"Well, it's almost winter," said Mae. "Be glad it's not snowing."

"It'd be warmer if it were snowing. There'd be clouds holding in a bit of heat," said Bea.

Bea took another drag of her cigarette. The white rat lurking on Mae's right shoulder scurried across the back of her neck and settled on her left shoulder.

"How's the job?" asked Bea, trying to sound more casual than she felt.

"Alright," said Mae. "But they expect me to show up on time and be clean. Kind of a drag."

"But you do, right?" Bea asked. "On time and after a shower?"

"Yeah, yeah," said Mae.

Bea exhaled a stream of smoke. "Good."

"How's the Ol' Pickaxe been?" Mae asked.

"Don't ask."

"Just did."

Bea sighed. "Same as always."

Mae absently patted the rat on her shoulder. She was trying not to show any worry and doing a pretty bad job of it.

"You know that road trip we promised ourselves we'd go on?" she asked.

Bea glanced at her sideways. "The one you proposed and I just kind of agreed to go along with?"

"Yeah, that one. The one I got that job at the Taco Buck for to help for it? Well..."

"Well what?" Bea sighed.

Mae shifted uncomfortably. Her rat scurried back and forth so as to not fall off. "I might've squandered my first paycheck."

"That's all?" said Bea. "For a moment I thought you'd got fired already."

"Get fired? And leave all those tacos behind? I wouldn't be able to bear it," said Mae. 

One of her hands disappeared into a pocket where she fumbled awkwardly with something. Bea pretended not to notice. Just stared straight ahead, smoking her cigarette.

"SoanywayIgotyouthis."

Mae shoved something into Bea's hands. Bea staggered back a few paces. Mae _probably _hadn't meant to shove her that hard, but Mae could also be kind of oblivious to her own strength sometimes.__

__Bea looked down at her hand. She found herself holding a small box. It was black. Or looked black. It was a dark night. Black and white were the only colors around. It might've been any color, though probably a dark one. Little boxes like this rarely came in bright pink neon._ _

__Bea snapped open the lid. A necklace glittered inside. She pulled it out of the box. A long, thin metal chain with a little ankh pendant. It seemed to glow in the starlight._ _

__"Yeah, that's right," Mae babbled. "Spent my money on something pretty but useless. It'll be gold toilets and a second yacht next."_ _

__"Uh-huh," said Bea, her eyes still fixed on the necklace turning slightly back and forth in her fingers._ _

__"I guess this officially makes me one of those... what do you call 'em? Boy Georges."_ _

__"What? Oh," said Bea as her brain caught up with Mae's words. "Bourgeoisie."_ _

__"Right, one of those. First up against the wall when the revolution comes, right?" said Mae._ _

__Bea carefully lowered her new necklace into its tiny box and closed the lid._ _

__"So, uh... you like it?" Mae asked. Anxiety dripped from every letter._ _

__"It's lovely," said Bea. "Thanks."_ _

__"Probably should've spent my cash on some proper therapy and actual meds, but, y'know, I don't make _that_ much," said Mae._ _

__"Yeah. Basic mental care is a pretty extravagant luxury, ain't it?"_ _

__"Yeah," Mae agreed. "So. Anyway. You gonna wear it?"_ _

__"I will," said Bea. "One day. When I need it."_ _

__"Oh, right," said Mae. "I get ya. I think."_ _

__"I really do appreciate the gift," said Bea._ _

__"Right."_ _

__"But why should I wear a memento of yours when you're right here with me right now?" Bea asked._ _

__"Because it'd look really nice on you?" Mae suggested._ _

__Bea gave Mae a long, speculative look. A sudden sense of determination came over her, as though she'd finally decided something she'd been debating for far too long._ _

__Bea leaned forward and kissed Mae. On her forehead. Softly. Briefly. While trying to ignore the white rat's mad red eyes staring at her._ _

__"Thanks," Bea murmured._ _

__Mae swayed back and forth. "Aw geez, BeaBea, you're making me blush."_ _

__"I should hope so," said Bea. "Got a question, though."_ _

__"Shoot."_ _

__"Why an ankh?"_ _

__"Really?" said Mae. "I mean, you wear ankh shirts all the time so I figured you'd be into it. Didn't want to risk getting something that didn't do anything for you."_ _

__"Should've guessed," said Bea._ _

__"They got so many ankh pendants," said Mae. "You'd be amazed. You could have a different ankh necklace every day of the year and still have some left over. It's crazy."_ _

__"This one'll do," said Bea._ _

__Mae flapped her arms aimlessly once or twice. "Wanna head back to town?"_ _

__"Already?" said Bea. "You're the one who wanted to go out here in the first place."_ _

__"Well, yeah, but only because I thought the woods'd be a nice, romantic spot to hand you that necklace, right?"_ _

__"You were right."_ _

__"Right? I'm a master seductress, me," said Mae. "But it's also, like, really effin' cold out here. So I'd like to go back now."_ _

__Bea took one last drag of her cigarette, drop it onto the ground and squashed it under her boot. "Let's get going then."_ _

__"Wanna... wanna hold hands?" Mae asked._ _

__"Going a bit fast, aren't you?" said Bea._ _

__"Only way I know how to go," Mae replied._ _

__Bea said nothing. Slipped her hand into Mae's. Smiled ever so faintly as they walked back towards the streetlights of the town. Mae grinned hugely, a skip in her step._ _

__"Mae?"_ _

__"Yeah?"_ _

__"Since when do you have a rat?"_ _

__"Aw, he's one of my babies," said Mae bashfully._ _

__"Your babies," said Bea._ _

__"Yeah, found 'em in an abandoned building," said Mae. "I fed 'em and took care of 'em until they could make it on their own. But this one didn't want to be parted from his mommy."_ _

__"Wait, it's a _wild_ rat?" said Bea._ _

__"He's called Hank."_ _

__"Mae, that thing's probably crawling with diseases."_ _

__"Crawling with love for his mommy, you mean. Which is me."_ _

__Bea sighed. "Sure. Whatever. So. Hank, huh?"_ _

__"I thought it was a nice name for a rat."_ _

__"Did you actually check if it was a boy rat first?" Bea asked._ _

__"Pfft. Nah," said Mae. "Who cares about gender anyway?"_ _

__"Certainly not me," said Bea._ _

__"Right?"_ _

__"Right."_ _


End file.
